Vivien Chien

Books: Mystery

A Noodle Shop Mystery: Death by Dumpling (2018), Wonton Terror (2019)

A Noodle Shop Mystery  

Death by Dumpling (2018)

Lana Lee dumped her boyfriend, quit her job, and came home to work at her parent's noodle shop. But when the owner of the plaza ends up dead–after having eaten a dumpling to which he was deathly allergic–Lana starts to look into the case.

This story… did so very many things that I absolutely hate.

"Mean" cop she is strangely attracted to? Check. 

Another possible love interest that is also a suspect? Check. 

Cop gets made she is "interfering" in his investigation? Check. 

Cop yells at her for putting herself in danger? Check.

(D)on't play the tough-girl act with me. Not now, Lana. Not while I'm trying to keep you safe."

Bonus: seven uses of the verb shimmied to describe her moving around.

It's not that the story was bad, just that it managed to hit so many tropes that absolutely irritate me.

Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks

Rating: 5/10

Wonton Terror (2019)

It seems I had read the first book in this series, and was no more impressed by that book than with this one.

First, there were several instances of a wrong word being used, which ended up completely confusing me.

I'd toiled all night with the text that Adam had sent.

Honestly, I'm not even sure what that sentence is supposed to say.

Then, we have a twenty-something needing to communicate with her roommate who worked late the night before.

There was a chance that Megan might be awake, so I pulled out my cell phone and gave her a call.

"Hello?" she mumbled into the phone.

"Did I wake you up?"

"Maybe just a little bit." She yawned. "What's up?"

A twenty-something who called instead of texting. That is such a bizarre concept I can barely wrap my head around it. A twenty-something who calls before texting?

Also, that's insanely rude. She'd only gotten a couple hours sleep! It wasn't that important!

But, she came across as selfish other times as well.

Her sister is asked to apply for an internship that could further her desired career, and all she can think of is that she'll be left short-staffed at work? Yikes.

And then she visits someone who has just gotten out of the hospital, makes tons of mental comments about what a disaster the house is.

While she went to take care of her mail, I set the bag on the counter. The sink was filled with dishes and I imagined they had been there since before the incident. I could smell the faintest odor of fried fish lingering from a previous dinner. I immediately felt bad for stopping by.

But not bad enough to help the poor woman out by doing some dishes or anything else useful.

So, this series is not for me.

Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks

Rating: 5/10